We cannot Say that We didn't See

I have other addictions, like telenovelas, burgers, and bacon sandwiches, but I’ve never been attracted to alcohol or drugs. The first time I took a glass of alcohol , I was twenty-one, and I didn’t like it, especially beer. Even today, I still can’t understand how or why people enjoy it. Drugs are different. Despite some movies trying to make them look attractive and trendy, I think putting something into your body without measuring its real effects can be dangerous. I mean, it is dangerous. More and more, we see people becoming addicted after using, or going crazy, or, on rare occasions, dying after the first use, because most of what's sold is full of chemicals, and most of those sellers aren't scientists. Taking what they sell is like playing Russian roulette. Not to mention that people become addicted faster, and die faster too. In my family, smoking a simple cigarette, especially for a woman, means you’re a slut, especially if you smoke in public. I smoked my first cigarette at twenty-one, a few weeks after my first drink. I wasn’t really smoking, because it hurt my throat, so I kept the smoke in my mouth for a little while to make people believe. But make who believe, and why? To prove I could smoke? That I was willing to attack my lungs on purpose? That I was okay with my hair, my clothes, and my whole body smelling like cigarettes, and my teeth turning yellow? No, thank you. Even my boyfriend at the time could see I was playing a role. He told me I should take lessons, because I was really bad at it. My attraction to cigarettes lasted one summer. One day, I gave an almost full pack to an acquaintance who actually smoked. Years later, in my mid-twenties, I came down with a severe UTI, and the doctor prescribed me codeine, well, a medication with codeine in it. It eased the pain, and I finished one strip; I think there were three strips of eight. I still remember that feeling of serenity: sleeping without pain, going to the bathroom without pain, when days before, I dreaded drinking anything or going to the bathroom. Once the infection was gone, I left the box in my medicine cabinet. A good seven years went by, and I mean seven years, before I decided to touch that box again. The box that almost made me a codeine addict.